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Utility of Microsatellite Markers and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism in the Study of Potentially Ochratoxigenic Black Aspergilli

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Abstract

Microsatellite markers and the results of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) were compared in the characterization of 68 Aspergillus carbonarius and A. niger aggregate strains of differing ochratoxin-producing ability and from different geographic areas, isolated mainly from grapes and soil. AFLP was applied to both A. carbonarius and A. niger aggregate strains, and it clearly differentiated these species. Microsatellite markers were only applied to A. niger aggregate strains because of the species-specific nature of these markers. Both AFLP and microsatellite marker analyses were able to divide A. niger aggregate strains into the two recognized internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-5.8S rDNA RFLP types, N and T. Clustering of A. niger aggregate strains was similar in both AFLP and microsatellite analyses, yielding an additional separation of N type strains into two groups. Both microsatellite marker and AFLP analyses showed high levels of polymorphism in the A. niger aggregate (index of discriminatory power 0.991 and 1.0, respectively). Of the two techniques, microsatellite marker analysis was quicker and more straightforward to perform. In addition, microsatellite marker analysis is more reproducible, and the results can be expressed as quantitative data, making microsatellite markers a good candidate for use in large-scale studies of genetic diversity in A. niger aggregate species.

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Notes

  1. Relative fluorescence unit (rfu).

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Acknowledgments

Support for Alexandre Esteban from the Generalitat de Catalunya (Grants No. 2002FI00194 and 2005SGR00684) is gratefully acknowledged. This project was supported, in part, by (1) Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers through their investment body, the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation, with matching funds from the Australian government and (2) the Commonwealth Cooperative Research Centres Program. The work was undertaken by Food Science Australia and the University of Adelaide as part of the research program of the Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture. We gratefully acknowledge H. Joosten and A. Venâncio for kindly providing us with some of the strains used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Science Australia, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia

    Alexandre Esteban, Su-lin L. Leong, Ailsa D. Hocking & Nai Tran-Dinh

  2. Grup de Micologia Veterinària, Departament de Sanitat i d’Anatomia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Alexandre Esteban, M. Lourdes Abarca & F. Javier Cabañes

  3. School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Glen Osmond, South Australia

    Su-lin L. Leong

  4. Cooperative Research Centre for Viticulture, Glen Osmond, South Australia

    Su-lin L. Leong & Ailsa D. Hocking

Authors
  1. Alexandre Esteban
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  2. Su-lin L. Leong
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  3. Ailsa D. Hocking
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  4. M. Lourdes Abarca
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  5. F. Javier Cabañes
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  6. Nai Tran-Dinh
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Correspondence to Nai Tran-Dinh.

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Esteban, A., Leong, Sl.L., Hocking, A.D. et al. Utility of Microsatellite Markers and Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism in the Study of Potentially Ochratoxigenic Black Aspergilli. Curr Microbiol 57, 348–355 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9201-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-008-9201-1

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